


Function

by Ailette



Category: Avengers (Comics), New Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Imported, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-09-18
Updated: 2008-09-18
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailette/pseuds/Ailette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Avengers disassembled, Steve is looking for a reason to go and see Tony. A red and gold one is flying above him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Function

The weather was good, with the sun shining and a cloudless sky. It felt good to be outside and soak the warmth in after everything that had happened. A couple of weeks had gone by since the Avengers disbanded, but he still felt a chill running down his spine when he thought about it. Thought about Scott and Jack, about Clint and… no. When he thought about Wanda, he felt something different all together. Instead of giving in to the nagging rage, threatening to break free at any second at the thought of the Scarlet Witch, he concentrated on the road again.

His motorbike flew over the even asphalt, the shield tucked in safely at his side while he was wearing more casual clothes, the uniform in the closet of his new home. Tony would be angry with him, if he knew Steve was driving without the helmet again. But Tony wouldn’t see him, would he? There was no Avengers meeting he was expected at, where Tony could see him get off the bike as he exited his latest car, scowl already in place. No, he wouldn’t see Tony. Unless he decided to go and see him. He could do that, he mused. Now that he thought about it, why hadn’t he done it before? He hadn’t seen his best friend once since… since all went to hell.

The truth was, he couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to go and visit Tony. Of course, it was plausible to show up and just say hi, but Steve needed more. He needed a reason to stay and talk to Tony for hours on end, like they used to. About books and politics; about the things they agreed on and the things they would argue to no avail--since neither of them would budge--like whether it had been a good idea to bring Lionheart’s children to the mansion or if it had been wise not to interfere when Hank and Jan’s relationship started to crumble. But the team was gone, and without them, they couldn’t just have these kinds of talks anymore.

He was distracted from his sullen thoughts when a glint of red and gold caught his eye as it whooshed over his head. The people on the sidewalk stopped mid-step to point up; children started to laugh and tugged on their mother’s skirts or their father’s coats. All of them mouthed the same words, the same name. Steve could see it as he drove by, recognizing it without the sound.

_Iron Man_

Grinning, he shifted up and accelerated, now half concentrated on the armor in the sky. He might not have a good enough reason to go and see Tony, but if he just showed up out of nowhere, it had to be some kind of sign, right?

For a while, he wondered where Tony might be headed, flying that low over the city. Everyone could see him, so it probably wasn’t a mission. Maybe he’d just wanted to take the armor for a spin. Steve knew his friend loved flying on his own, and he’d admitted as much when Steve once caught him in the Mansion’s garden, having just come back from a flight. As the helmet had come off, Steve hadn’t believed his eyes at first. Grinning from ear to ear, radiating surplus energy and eyes shining in delight, Tony had stood there. Sometimes it was hard to remember this side of Tony, the careless and happy side. God knew he didn’t have a chance to show it very often.

As he took the next turn, he suddenly realized where Tony was going, as the destination was now directly in front of his eyes. The Mansion. Or rather, what was left of it. Tony landed on the stone path leading toward what had once been a proud, solid wooden door. Steve parked his bike in front of the gates, hurrying to enter the old codes so he could step in. It was force of habit, really, since he could have just jumped over the walls, but that would have been disrespectful somehow. The lock buzzed, confirming his code, but the gate was too crooked to move aside on its own, so he pushed the left side open and went through. He passed the crater with his eyes planted firmly on the door at the end of the path. He wanted to keep the Mansion in mind as what had once been home, what had provided a place for a giant family, all differences aside. Keeping the good times in his memory instead of the bad, just like he wanted to remember Wanda as the woman who laughed at him in the morning when he was on his way to the bathroom with his hair tousled and in nothing but boxers and the shield already strapped on his back; the woman who had the guts to tell Clint to take his feet of the table or she would hex him bunny paws. The woman who’d been so good at making others feeling better about themselves but had an unending quarrel with her own life. But, every time he saw this crater, every time he visited Clint’s grave, it got harder to remember the good times. Maybe Tony had been right to declare this place a memorial. It would have never been home again.

“Tony?” he shouted into the empty lobby. There was no response, but he could see his friend enter the stairwell. He jogged the few meters to catch up, but when he pushed the steel door aside, Tony wasn’t walking down the stairs, but rather using the armor to fly down.

“Tony.”

Steve frowned and began to follow the only light source in the dark staircase as fast as he could, easily keeping up with it.

“Tony. Tony!”

There was no reaction to his shouting. Maybe the sound sensors were damaged? He tugged at the armor’s arm, but there was still no response. Most likely the armor had taken some damage and Tony needed spare parts out of his old arsenal chamber. He wondered briefly whether there was anything left in this building. The security was pretty lax after all, and Tony made a habit of never leaving any parts of his technology for strangers to find and examine. He was too aware of what might happen with so much power in the wrong hands. He was too aware that the blood would be on his hands in the end. But, as they passed the firing range, Steve could see old arrows lying around, boxes all over the place and dusty, but everything still intact. They had never gone back to collect their things.

The armor set down in front of the door to Tony’s arsenal room, just like Steve had suspected. As the door slid open and Tony entered, Steve hastily followed. He stepped in front of Iron Man, hands on his hips as he eyed the visor. He couldn’t see the familiar blue behind them, just a dim red glow in the slowly illuminated room.

“Tony. What are you doing here?”

No response. “I know you can lip read, and you have to see me now, so what is this about? I know we haven’t talked a lot lately, but there is no reason for you to just ignore me,” he suddenly paused, eyes narrowing. “Is there? If there is then you should just tell me.”

As there was still no reply, he felt the anger in him rising. “Talk to me, Tony. Take off that stupid helmet and tell me what it is you think I’ve done wrong. Should I have stopped you when you broke up the Avengers? Are you implying it’s my fault this all happened in the first place? That it was my responsibility as team leader to look after everyone; that I should have noticed something was wrong with Wanda?” His voice grew louder with every word. “Don’t you think I know that?” He choked out in the end, closing his eyes for a moment to get his breathing back under control. To get himself back under control.

“Tony, I swear to God, if you’re inside that thing and laughing at me, I will—”

“Live signal identified as Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. Member of the former Avengers. Clearance A-2 to all missions. Clearance A-1 with Tony Stark’s consent.”

Steve stared at the armor, jaw hanging slightly open. “What?”

The mechanical voice went on, not reacting to his question. “Last Command, execute.”

And with that, the armor lay down on the cold stone tiles, all safeties unlocking with the same unnerving ‘click’ as the joints all fell off, revealing Tony underneath them. Steve hurried over and fell to his knees, shoving the metal pieces away and pulling Tony’s head in his lap without a second thought.

“Tony? Tony!”

The armor must have been on autopilot, flying back to the place where help could be found in case Tony lost unconsciousness inside of it. But why hadn’t Tony changed the location? There was no one left here at the Mansion—

No pulse. Steve’s eyes widened as he checked again, bowed down to feel for breath. But as he touched his friend’s face, it was ice cold, face frozen in an unmoving grimace of pain. Steve had seen this expression before. People dying from heart attacks often had the pain etched into their features for eternity.

Tony was dead.

Tony was dead and the last command he had programmed into his armor was to come to a place he had once known as home, but was now a deserted ruin where no one would have found him. All alone.

**Author's Note:**

> (Originally posted at http://ailette.livejournal.com/23112.html)  
> Beta: freakydarling


End file.
